Seagoing Strategy Help Wanted

[Sultan Bhargash]

My biggest complaint with corruption, which I usually don't complain about at all, is how it mucks up the archipelago, small landmass, big world maps that I am currently trying to win as England on regent. I have tried this before with England (the civ with the best straight shot to mapmaking).

The problems I encounter include: 1. juggling seafaring vessels and overseas bound settlers/defenders with the production of the usual improvements in my core island plus military (I had a lively and unusually early war for me, archers and swordsmen taking out france to the north and capturing Paris with it's improbable Great Lighthouse, Oracle, Colossus set up).

2. overseas production is limited by corruption and waste and somehow the AI gets past this with multi ships, etc.
Palace hopping isn't much of an option on a jungle island world.

Anybody else wish the game was more enjoyable as seafaring strategy (it is currently rather golden horde horseman oriented IMO)? Any tips for how to build an archipelagic empire?

 

[Tassadar]

Built your first core fast, several coastal city around your palace, built a temple in your third one( coastal city) and built colossus in it, then built library and search tech fast, switch to republic to get the major commerce income from coastal tile( with harbor).

Then if you are able to conquire another island ( with knight), it is very good because you get a chance to get a great leader and rush built forbiden palace very soon, this will give you a second core cities.

If you cannot find a good second spot for your forbiden palace( colonize or conquire) then it is harder, you have to colonize several little island and swich to communist to lower corruption in those far away city, built courthouse ( size 6 and police station size 12), it will be hard to reach modern era but you shouldnt have to much problem with industrial one.

 

[BillChin]

Best way to combat corruption on a sparse archipelago map is to limit the number of cities in the empire (see optimal city number in the editor for each map size and difficulty level). If a player does this, courthouses, We-Love-the-King-Day and police stations help a great deal. Democracy helps a bit for reducing the distance factor in the corruption formula. Playing a commercial civ also helps a bit.

Most players establish two industrial cores, one around the Palace, one around the Forbidden Palace. A great leader is usually needed to accomplish this on a sparse map.
- Bill

 

[Tassadar]

Billchin got a very good point, when a city reach size 6 you can manage to create WLKD and thus getting more effective shield, use this to built the courthouse.

 

[Sultan Bhargash]

Thanks for the advice. I hadn't even considered Communism - you know in Civ3 I've never played with this government (and only rarely used Monarchy), ever since I learned how to keep war weariness down in Civ2 I have thought of communism as a learner's crutch. But it might make sense in this corruption atmosphere to spread the wealth.

Yes I will need to depend on great leaders, however I may have some difficulty generating them- in my one war so far the elites were killed off, I have just one on the eve of a big war with Germany.

The game has progressed to where we are all colonizing all of the islands. THe AI has more cities on most islands but I have better cities in that I have pushed workers out of them to hook up roads and I have payed for temples to expand the border and am getting ready to put in harbors.

It is going to be an interesting game.

 

[Tassadar]

A good way to make great leader is barbarian farm, leave a part of your land unsettled so babarian will arise, use knight or cavarlry or even better tank to kill those barbarian so you got lots of elite units, invade with those elite units, raze and capture, raze crap a.i. city, keep one with ressource. Communism is very good on spread out empire, dont built to much city over optimum ( aroud 20 for std is fine), if you got lots of luxuries you may not need those religious building that cost money, under commi 4 units per city act like military police and with a coliseum you keep size 12 city under control, metropolis support 8 units for free. With courthouse and police station all your city will give you production and money.

And the best thing is you can do what you want, declare war, raze city, commi doest care about war weariness. Go commi and walk with your soldier into a.i. teritory to install fear.

 

[Sultan Bhargash]

Tassadar- Barbarian farm! That is a genius idea!

Unfortunately in most style maps if you left a piece of land unsettled till tanks the AI would fill it in. And I do like to get the bounty for killing barbarians in those early days when I am barely breaking even in gold.

Still, I like it.